Need Help By the hour or guesstimate with a quote

[Bee-Jay]

Hello, in need of advice please. I have applied more vinyl than I have had to remove in my jobs so I’m not sure how to price this one.
I have been asked to quote for the removal of etch vinyl on 6 windows at approx. 1.6m x 1.5m each.
Do I risk missing out on the gig at saying it would be charged by the hour or to risk undercutting myself if I allow a timeframe that is mostly guess work.
Just after your thoughts if you could share please. Thank you!


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[D2S]

My gut is always by the hour, every time I have tried to do it as part of the qoute it bites me in the ass. I would recommend by the hour and explain to them the process and you will do it as fast as possible, if you want tell them and idea of cost so they can prepare.

 

[neato]

Give them an estimate on time, for example, if you think it will take 8 hours (maybe a bit high) and your rate is $75 per hour, give the estimate at $600, but put on there clearly that it's for 8 hours of work and anything beyond that will be billed by the hour at your normal shop rate. That way your giving an estimate, but leaving some room so it doesn't come back to bite you.

 

[rydods]

Like neato said, give them an estimate on time but hire a couple of kids and let them take it off. It's windows not a vehicle so less likelihood of scratching. Spend your time on something else.

 

[papabud]

removing vinyl is pure labor and sometimes a lot of it.
always quote by the hour.

 

[2B]

removing vinyl is pure labor and sometimes a lot of it.
always quote by the hour.

agree, we try to always give an estimated time-frame but ALWAYS state very clearly this is an estimate and it may be more and it may be less.

The flip side to this is if you are submitting a bid, RFP, subcontracting, etc. they typically require you to submit an exact and final price.
in these cases you need to know the full details and then always go high with time and once all is figured adding a few hours to be sure you cover yourself

we have turned more than one job away because of the lack of details or time-frame they expect it done in

 

[T_K]

Give them an estimate on time, for example, if you think it will take 8 hours (maybe a bit high) and your rate is $75 per hour, give the estimate at $600, but put on there clearly that it's for 8 hours of work and anything beyond that will be billed by the hour at your normal shop rate. That way your giving an estimate, but leaving some room so it doesn't come back to bite you.

Definitely agree here. I've had what I thought would be easy removals turn into nightmares because someone used some cheap no-name-china-brand vinyl. And it's a bit of a selling point to say "I think it will take # hours which will cost $X. But if I get it done faster, you'll save money." Sure, you could be "losing" money by taking less time then you thought removing vinyl, but who really wants to do that? I'd rather do many other things than removal.

Like neato said, give them an estimate on time but hire a couple of kids and let them take it off. It's windows not a vehicle so less likelihood of scratching. Spend your time on something else.

Definitely hire it out if that's an option. You lose a few bucks, but you save a bunch of time you could be running your business.

Another option is to recommend they hire some general labor to do the removal at a cheaper hourly rate, assuming you're not that interested in the removal part. I've had customers ask for removal that we didn't want to do b/c it sucks and we were busy. I passed along the name of a guy we used as a handyman as a recommendation and asked them to let us know when it was clean. We didn't have to deal with the removal and got points for saving our customer some money on that part.

 

[Bee-Jay]

Great advice from all, thank you much appreciated.


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[bannertime]

For window cleaning we recommend a local window clearer. Much faster and cheaper than anything we could do. Our customers are happy from a great recommendation and typically end up using him to continue cleaning their windows. Through a relationship we built with him, he brings us jobs, and he knows how to clean on and around window graphics.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

You could ask to remove a small square and estimate the time based on that. Get someone to do it... You may charge $75-$100/hr, but you can pay $15. If you end up doing it then your only "making" $15/hr.

 

[Johnny Best]

Tell them you will do one widow to see how long it takes. Should only be about 2 hours at most for 5'x5' etch to get off glass. Then give them a price based on that time from your experience on the one.